Kara Whey has just crossed the big bridge near Fort Alessia. She was stopped by a highwayman in the middle of the bridge, which astonished me, because there was a legion rider on his horse about five feet behind him. What followed was even better...

"Your money or your life!"
"No, take it from me if you can!"
"Actually, this one prefers it that way."

Highwayman swings his hammer, and Kara Whey blasts him with a massive Shock/Fire/Absorb Health spell. Highwayman falls down, twitches for several seconds, and dies.

Meanwhile, the legion rider has dismounted, and is running full speed in the other direction. He leaps off the end of the bridge, races down to the water, and slaughters a mudcrab. "For the Empire!"

On to Cheydinhal. Kara Whey suspects an Oblivion Gate has opened there. (I have an idea that this gate is going to be a maddening experience for her, but I'm not going to be the one to tell her. )

Edit:
Update: Farwil survived! Kara Whey now carries the Staff of Indarys.

I love the imperial legion. So many comedy moments.

Skarsgard's quest to visit every tavern in Cyrodiil is under way! The pictures can be found in http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1345962-even-more-oblivion-screenshots/page__view__findpost__p__20461944 He started in Anvil and has decided to rate his experience in each one out of 5.

The Fo'c's'le gets a measly 1/5 from him, he had a terrible time there. There was no-one in the place and Mirabelle Monet was very impolite. He didn't stay. From there it was on to the Flowing Bowl, which only earns a 2/5 since he had a tough time getting a drink. Some wood elf was in and out of the door all the time, letting the draughty sea air in! The Count's Arms inside Anvil's walls got 2/5 as well. It was full of sad men with stilted conversation. Only the khajiit in there had anything interesting to say.

Once he was on the road though, things brightened up. 3 lovely ladies were there to greet him at the Brina Cross Inn. The mead was good and the evening was pretty fun, so Skarsgard decided to stay the night. Unfortunately the three lovely ladies declined to join him in the bedroom, so Skarsgard http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/BrinaCrossInn5.jpg Still, the female presence and good mead earned a solid 3 and a half out of 5.

His favourite so far has to be the Gottshaw Inn though. A lovely young legion soldier and a friendly tavern owner really put a smile on Skarsgard's face, and he went all out and bought a bottle of Tamika Vintage 415 at a cost of nearly 40 gold to share with the two. He had a lovely lunch, and the presence of the attractive legion soldier pushed Skarsgard's rating up to 4 out of 5!

After this he will head east towards Skingrad. Hopefully he'll have a better night than in Anvil. He hasn't had the opportunity to get merry yet

I love moments like that in Glarrg's story above. The Imperial soldier starts going ape-[censored] because of a crab!

And Mara, you're rating those bars, too? That's so awesome. I should have a character rate places in Skyrim.

"By the Nine, if you've got to travel, stay off the roads! We've had sightings, you see...mudcrabs..."

Lady Mara, make sure that Skarsgard has plenty of time in the Inn of Ill Omen / Faregyl Inn area in case that smokin hot Imperial Forester is there.

Love the screenshots. It's like getting postcards!

Kara Whey has entered one of the two Oblivion Gates outside Leyawiin.

It's been a hectic few days. Having secured a promise of support troops for Bruma, from Count Indarys of Cheydinhal, she headed south, to a part of Cyrodiil that was unfamiliar to her. On the way, she encountered four more Oblivion Gates. Two of them were dangerously close to the road, so she closed them; the others, not near where travelers might go, she marked on her map to deal with later. Now there are these two threatening Leyawiin. She wonders if they're endless in number...

She sees by her journal that she has closed 11 gates so far. Some of them, oddly, appeared to connect to the same part of Oblivion. It's as if the same tower, which she has previously dismantled, is being rebuilt time and again, and reconnected to Mundus. It's a puzzlement.

One of my characters The Grey Wizard always used to close gates that were near the road. It was like his public duty, he figured. Gotta keep the roads safe. But if the gate were way out in the middle of nowhere, he didn't get involved. Sometimes he did, but mostly he just let them go.

Yeah?
Well I'll contribute and give -1 star to the local trader's in Riverwood - the guy behind the counter just clumsily tried to hit on Niamh...
Heh.

Mara, maybe you can add some comments in the http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1241697-your-own-black-horse-courier-article/page__hl__black+horse__fromsearch__1. Like maybe Skarsgard can write a couple articles on the accomodations of those places. Or not. I know that be a lot of work.


I'm thinking a future Nord character I have in mind will try to do this. Not hit on Niamh, but rate and discuss all the taverns he comes across.

LOL - a kind of Michelin Guide to Skyrim/Cyrodiil...
He's welcome to try, but he wouldn't have much luck I fear...

Smokin hot Imperial Forester eh? He'll be sure to spend a while around there then! I guess those pictures are a bit like postcards. Perhaps Skarsgard should send some to his cousins in Skyrim.



Ehhh a sentence or two won't be too strenuous. Good idea!

Well, Baa is back stirring things up again. She picked up her companion at Arborwatch and they armored up with some enchanted jewelry (they don’t wear much else) and set off to find Baurus at Luther Broad’s Boarding House. After four years she figured it was time to move on with the main quest. Tried to short cut the main quest by killing Mankar Camoran from the overlooking ledge in his lair. Hit him five times with super poison arrows to no effect. It was worth a try, but Baa just shrugged and went on her way.

Baa had already closed 26 Oblivion gates, so she set out to open a few more so she could close them. Traveling east from Shingrad she found five, the last of which was on top of the Isolated House past the Priory of the Nine. Kind of sad seeing the house burning. Didn’t close any of the gates - was just finding them.

Baa went back to Chorrol for more arrows and found everyone all in a hubbub about some Oblivion Gate outside the walls. She went out the south gate and there it was. Closed it. Then closed the new one at Leyawiin, then closed the new one at Anvil. She now has a collection of 14 Sigil Stones, most of which are Shield 20%. Neither her nor her companion have any need to enchant anything, so Baa figured she would just save them to enchant stuff for some her other companions she will probably take along for the Great Gate encounter. (Haven’t tried that before.)

As usual, Baa is presently resting in the pirate boat at the Imperial City waterfront conversing with her companion over a goblet or two or three of fine wine.

Caius has just joined the ranks of the Knights of the White Stallion, along with Mazoga, who he had the pleasure of slaying a few bandits with. He's on his way to his new home, White Stallion Lodge, although he's not sure he's going to enjoy having Mazoga has his roommate ...

Luvs Mazoga!

Mazoga cheers up after a while. Arum had a bit of trouble with her at first but they both have a grudging respect for each other now.

***

As for Skarsgard, he's a fairly happy man due to finally 'getting some' in Skingrad, as I predicted he would. But first I need to tell you about how this happened. As he passed Kvatch he thoughtfully laid some flowers and a bottle of mead to honour the tavern that most likely was burnt to the ground there. He reached Skingrad at dusk and headed to the chapel for some healing, as he'd contracted a disease from a wolf on the way. Thankfully it was only in the early stages and a potion sorted him out. He changed into his blue velvet outfit and headed off to the http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/WestWealdInn1.jpg

It was quite boring in the West Weald Inn, (2/5) and Skarsgard wasn't in the mood for boring. He had a quick dinner there, but soon left for the Two Sisters Lodge. Even the name- "Two Sisters"- suggested a much better time than in the respectable West Weald Inn. He was right.

He was a little disappointed that the proprietor of the Two Sisters Lodge http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/TwoSistersLodge1.jpg- Skarsgard doesn't 'do' beast races- but she made pleasant conversation and served good mead. She suggested he head upstairs to socialise with the other patrons, and Skarsgard was glad he did when http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/TwoSistersLodge3.jpg She was quite butch, but then a lot of nord women are, and Skarsgard was used to this. As the Skingrad smith, Agnete had quite a few amusing tales to tell, and the mead flowed as well as the conversation....

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/TwoSistersLodge5.jpg For showing him such a good time, the Two Sisters Lodge has earned a fantastic 4/5. Though things were a little awkward the next morning when he had to get his armour repaired...

Awesome stories, Mara! How the heck did you get htat last pic of Skarsgard? It looks like he's...um..... laying some pipe! Yea...that's it!

On Mazoga: I've had at least a couple characters ignore her altogether once they found out she's an orc. I think Dyan phor a'Cauz (who favors racial and species tolerance) tried to assist Mazoga, but made the mistake of exploring that Ayleid ruin that lies somewhat northeast of Leyawin. There's some trolls outside the ruins (even at lower game levels) and Mazoga wound up getting killed.

Dyan was regretful, but I thought it was pretty cool that if Mazoga gets killed .

With some careful positioning of the camera and a bit of patience! Couldn't have him flaunting his wares now, except to the lucky Agnete of course

Interestingly, when Skarsgard stopped at the Skingrad fighter's guild this morning, he saw http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/Lady-Mara-2/Skarsgards%20Quest/SkingradFightersGuild.jpg sitting at the table in just his underwear like it was nothing!

After Skingrad he'll be heading south-eastwards. Next stop is the Sleeping Mare tavern at the Pell's Gate settlement.

Glad to hear Caius isn't the only one to have had some run-ins with Mazoga! Deep down he doesn't mind her, but she's far from the politest roomie ;D


Caius doesn't mind orcs all that much - it's Argonians he doesn't like, after a run in with some of them in the Imperial City. Shame to hear about Mazoga, although I'm glad I didn't run into any trolls!

Ahh yes, the infamous Fadus Calidius, http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v90/subrosa_florens/oblivion/Oblivion266.jpg

Good to know.





cool. Looking forward to it. I'm addicted to these little stories just as much as I'm addicted to Walking Dead.

Caius rode out to Anvil today, where he helped some people confront some thieves - very attractive lady thieves who offered him a 'good night', which he was more than happy to go along with after dealing with the thieves (and having to miss out on that offer) he dealt with a contract from the fighters guild. He also purchased quite the manor from a man in the Count's Arms, although even that was an adventure!

Thinking about posting some screenshots, although my vanilla character is very boring compared to everyone else!

Blackwood Swamp near Fort Bulwark.

It’s dark and it’s raining and you can’t see ten feet except when the lightning flashes. Baa is trying to get Oblivion Gate number 59 to open, but with no luck. She has been around to all the usual suspect places but nothing new has come up in an hour. She has about decided that 59 and 60 are the Bruma Gate and the Great Gate. Don’t know. She hasn’t been there lately. She has closed 36 gates so far including the cities, except for Bruma, and did the Fort Sutch Gate a while ago - Wow, that was a real swarm coming out of there.

Vilja is currently staying in Bruma.
She's been there for a while and is considering perhaps getting some employment, but then again the wanderlust that her companion sparked within her is a flame that still burns brightly so maybe she'll set off again. She thinks she might go south for a while but the problem really is - as she has been forced to admit to herself - she can't leave Bruma in case Niamh comes back...
...And so she stays, although she hates to - but she's scared to go, as well...

She′s welcome to visit Lothran in his house, but not for long I′m afraid. He will very soon head south again. Winter′s over for this time

Kara Whey is in Bruma, too.

She has recently returned from her whirlwind tour of Cyrodiil, securing military assistance from the other cities, and from retrieving an ancient suit of armor. She took a much needed break from her Blades duties, and has just acquired an old Akaviri necklace for the Countess of Bruma. (For some reason, nobody had mentioned that there would be Ogres involved...)

Soon she will be off for the south, to Miscarcand. She has heard rumors about the place, and is not relishing the task.